We all want to spend time with our family, but we’re so busy with everything else going on in our world, how do we do it?

How do we respond when so many others need/want our moments, hours and days, yet we long for more time with our husband? More time pouring into our children? Here are some points to ponder when you consider how yo will spend your days:

Establish an eternal perspective. How will this decision effect eternity? If it won’t, then is it pressing right now or should I do something else?

Remember when you say “yes” to someone, you’re saying “no” to someone else. Who should I be saying “no” to? Is this person in my priority order?

Respond to each opportunity on the basis of how it will affect your ability to fulfill your current obligations. Will doing this make it more difficult to do what I have to get done today? Will doing this help me accomplish what is before me?

Try to do only the right things for the right reasons at the right times in the right seasons.

Now, how will you spend TIME with your family this weekend? Perhaps you should start by asking yourself these four questions, then make decisions about what you will/should do!

Your family opportunities won’t be there forever! Grab them while you can!

This coming Wednesday in Pioneer Club I get the joy of teaching a Bible lesson I’m not sure I’ve ever taught. As I’ve pondered this Bible passage, I’ve realized how important this little two-verse story is! It’s the story of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law being sick with a fever.

But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.

.And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

Mark 1:30-31

So why would this be in the Scriptures? Why should we tell the children this story? Why do you and I need to read it? I believe it’s because it speaks volumes about the care we should have for our family. Just as this family looked after the needs of this mother who was sick, we need to put the same kind of efforts into our family relationships.

They loved her.

They wanted to do the best thing for her.

They got the best care for her needs.

She showed her gratitude by serving.

It’s so simple, yet so powerful a message of family life as God intended it.

Loving, caring, giving, gratitude – all attributes every Christian family should have.

But so many homes today are filled with fighting and bickering, bitterness and grudges. The thermostat in the home is set at the high temperature of STRIFE. Heated discussions., sassy children, and hot words of anger fill the rooms instead of love, forgiveness and kind deeds.

James 3:16 says,

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

Confusion.

Every evil work.

Is that what we want inside our home? If we allow strife, that’s what we will get.

I have a sad memory from years ago of a grieving family who were at the casket of their mother. She was now in heaven, and the family knew there were bitter feelings they had never reconciled. This family had “solved” problems with shouting matches, that of course did no good. Now their mother was deceased, and their hearts were hurting, filled with regret, and sorry they hadn’t taken care of it before she closed her eyes in death.

Standing at the grave of a loved one is not the time to make peace. It’s today. Don’t let strife and confusion and every evil work typify your family. Instead, allow your relations to enjoy the forgiveness you received at the cross. Life is too short and family is too precious.

Let’s be like Simon Peter and lovingly go get the best help we can for our family – let’s run and find Jesus! We must bring Him in on each situation and problem. We must care for the needs of our parents, siblings, and children, forgetting our own.

Jokes about mothers-in-law…there are many. I remember hearing one about a Greyhound bus going over the side of a cliff, but there was no worry, because the only passenger was the man’s MIL. Ouch. Where do those punches come from? Maybe from people who have gotten fed up with that female in-law who crossed the relational boundaries. But it’s so easy to do, isn’t it? We may reason that

we only want to help!

we’ve been where our children are and we think we need to give them some good advice.

we see our kids getting ready to make the mistake of a lifetime.

they need help raising those grandchildren of ours.

The reasons for mother-in-laws interfering are many, but for the most part, they may be very unwelcomed from our birth children and our in-laws. It can do far more damage than it does help when it’s unsolicited.

What is a mother-in-law to do if she desires to have a good relationship with a son or daughter-in-law? Here are a few things I’ve learned (and am still learning!).

Only give advice when it’s asked for. If you see your kids doing something you think is wrong, pray about it instead of speaking to them. Trust a sovereign God to direct them just as He directs you when you’re heading down a wrong path.
That would include little “hints” you might want to drop about your DIL’s housekeeping, lack of meal prep, or careless parenting skills. Or your SIL’s need to turn off the television, get a job, lead his family or attend church. Take it to God instead.
I’ve had to ask both of my girls to forgive me for stepping over that boundary once they got married! We’re so used to being “mom” that we scold, advise and reprimand our grown kids as quickly as we used to throw our arm across them when we came to a sudden stop in the car. Let’s fold our hands in prayer instead and ask the Lord to give them wisdom to make right choices.

Don’t demand your children’s presence for ANYTHING. would mean Christmas, Thanksgiving, your birthday, Mother’s Day – you get the idea. They have lives of their own. They have a family to care for. They have burdens to carry. They have jobs and ministries. Let them live their lives. Again, if you feel neglected, take it to the Lord in prayer. Even if you don’t demand their presence, but you pout because they weren’t there…it’s just as bad.
Also, be sure you’re building that marriage relationship with your spouse. Have so much fun together that your kids will know that if they’re not able to come home, you both are fine just being together!

Never drop in to your children’s home without calling ahead. “Yoo-hoo!”at the front door as you walk in could make an embarrassing situation for you and your children. It can also turn you into the lady that might be given a ticket to ride that Greyhound bus!

Consider your child’s spouse. Think to your own MIL and how you liked or disliked when she left you out or included you, as the case may be. Love them. Talk to them. Send a text. Call them occasionally just to say hi. Pray for them. Treat them with respect and give them those kind of words.

Allow your children and their spouse to be adults. Treat them as such, remembering that you raised them to be independent. Don’t see your son as your little boy. He’s a man. Let your daughter be a grown woman. Let go of those early days and let them establish a home as adults.

Remember the story of Ruth and Naomi? Ruth was said to have been kind to her mother-in-law. We may cry out – “My daughter-in-law needs to take a lesson from her! My son-in-law needs to learn to be kind to me!” But what made Ruth and Orpah want to go back to Bethlehem with Naomi? She had been gracious to them! Someone has said,

Maybe if we were more like Naomi,

there would be more Ruth’s.

If you’re guilty of something in this post, be humble and ask the Lord to help you. You might even need to ask your children and in-laws to forgive you for the way you’ve treated them. A humble spirit of repentance could be the very thing that will turn those difficult relationships around.